Words and Phrases
by Starrika
Summary: Written for the alphabetdrabble community on LJ. 26 drabbles of Neville and Lavender. Post DH.
1. W is for Wan

He lips never curled into a full smile anymore. Instead, her expressions were always tepid, lacking the warmth that had made others overlook her shortcomings – not that the shortcomings of vanity and being boy-crazy were prevalent anymore.

Neville hated to see Lavender like this. She was like a plant in Spring, trapped in half-life and unsure if it could escape its Winter torpor to flourish in the coming sun. 

Her necklines rose higher, leaving it to the imagination where her scars descended. 

Neville wished he could find her sun, to find the thing that would make her bloom confidently again.


	2. K is for Kismet

He ran into her in Diagon Alley four years after the awards presentation. Now that the hubbub of war and celebration had faded, so too had Neville's celebrity of defying Voldemort.

He quite liked it that way.

She'd been a shadow at the Gryffindor events – Ron and Hermione's wedding, birthdays, and the occasional meet-up at a pub. She'd make an appearance, her smile less dim with each passing, but he never managed to catch her before she left.

"It's you," she said, smile brighter than he'd seen it in years.

"It's me," he agreed. "D'you want to get a Butterbeer?"


	3. B is for Bloviate

Neville hated the healers in charge of his parents' care. If it wasn't for Lavender's hand on his arm, he would have been tempted to hex Healer McKinnon.

His mother was dead. He didn't want to hear the man pompously rattle on about the paper he was writing on her deteriorating mental condition.

Had his mother been a patient, or just a specimen for him to study?

"Healer McKinnon, I truly doubt Mr. Longbottom wishes to hear how you're benefiting from his mother's death."

Lavender's voice was cutting, like her spats with Pansy Parkinson at Hogwarts.

Gran would have approved.


	4. C is for Cicatrix

_The patient has a large amount of cicatrices on the left torso. It is unlikely they will become less noticeable over time_.

It was a lofty word from her medical chart, but Lavender knew that cicatrix was just a fancy way to describe a scar. Even in her chart, they disguised the truth.

She thinks of her chart as Neville moves to undo the topmost button of her blouse. Despite the fancy words, her flesh is marred. She knows it is ugly.

His fingers expose lace-clad breasts.

From the look on his face, he hasn't noticed her scars at all.


	5. P is for Plethora

The room was filled with flowers. There were orchards and roses, and yes, even lavender. Pots and vases covered the tables and the windowsill; there was a voluminous bouquet on her pillow and scattered petals on the carpet. The smell was heady and floral, and entirely overwhelming.

"Romantic enough for you?"

He was smirking and what should have been a lovely moment was ruined by her incontrollable desire to laugh.

"I should never have mentioned flowers to a gardener, should I?" Lavender replied wryly. She needed to open a window – it was starting to smell like her mother's old perfume.


	6. H is for Halcyon

They were halcyon days full of blue sky, sun, and an expanse of deserted, pristine beach.

It took half his trust money, but Neville thought the expense of a private island was well worth it when Lavender shyly displayed her yellow bikini.

Their honeymoon slipped by with tranquil hours dozing in a hammock and carefree floating on the waves. When it was over, Neville was burnt and Lavender forgot all about covering her scars.

They arrived in London with Neville's nose starting to peel and Lavender's scarf in her bag.

It was half his trust, but it was also priceless.


	7. E is for Ersatz

"You are not a child," Neville told Annie, Lavender's cocker spaniel. She just looked at him in that dumb, dog way and frantically wagged her stubby tail.

"Lay down. Please?"

He fluffed the pillows of her pink doggie bed and patted it once more. "Please?"

Annie yipped and hopped onto the bed, but didn't lie down. If he hadn't seen her motionless in sleep, Neville would have thought her tail never stopped.

"Oh, all right," Neville grumbled. With a sigh, he began to sing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"

What the hell had Lavender done to her dog?


	8. F is for Fealty

"Do you, Neville Francis Kendalwood Longbottom, take Lavender Christine Brown, to be your lawfully wedded wife, pledging your eternal fidelity to the life-long vow of marriage?"

"I do."

"Do you, Lavender Christine Brown, pledge the same?"

"I do."

"You may kiss the bride!"

Elvis smiled beatifically, and Neville leaned down to brush his lips across Lavender's. She giggled.

The casino lights lit up around the pulpit, with Elvis' trademark "Viva Las Vegas" playing loudly over the speakers. Two women with bouffants clapped enthusiastically. Neville was sure Gran was rolling in her grave.

It sure beat a notary at the Ministry.


	9. L is for Loquacious

They went into the Leaky and got a booth. Before Neville could open his mouth, though, Lavender was off and babbling like she used to at Hogwarts, fingers self-consciously playing with the end of her scarf.

The scars on her face and what he could see on her neck had either faded or been Glamoured, but she still didn't seem used to them.

Finally, when she started repeating herself on the latest gossip about Parvati and Seamus, he grabbed her hand, drawing her fingers away from tangling in the scarf's fringe.

"How are you? That's what I want to know."


	10. T is for Tryst

Neville had never heard of Violet Tawny before, but she'd written him to estimate the cost of his services for her greenhouse, which had been damaged in the war. He'd written back, and set up an appointment at 11pm, so that he could see her collection of night-blooming flowers.

When he Apparated to the coordinates, however, he wasn't met by an older woman and her decaying Antares, but his fiancée in sheer lingerie and a greenhouse full of fairy lights.

"Uh, Lav," he started to question, his eyes drawn downward. His mind blanked.

"Here to look over some flowers, Nev?"


	11. Y is for Yearn

The baby had Parvati's dark hair and Seamus' dimple. Her eyes were closed when she was passed to Neville, and he nearly dropped her in surprise. The baby was heavier than expected.

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Mira," Parvati replied. "After my mother."

"And my Gran was Moira," Seamus interjected.

Parvati and Seamus started to bicker lightheartedly over who the name honored more, but Neville tuned them out. Compared to Hermione and Ron, it was easy to do.

He looked down at Mira, with her tiny hands curled into fists. He suddenly wanted a child more than he though possible.


	12. I is for Iota

"You really don't care about them."

"Not an iota. Merlin, Lavender, you're still one of the most beautiful girls I know. A few scars won't change that."

"It's more than a few scars, and you know it."

"I know that you're more self-conscious about it than you should be. You don't look like Mad-Eye Moody, you know."

"I don't?"

"Of course not. For one, your rack is better."

"Neville!"

"What? I'm telling you the difference."

"Now I've thought of Moody with tits. I feel worse."

"You're right, that is bad. Sorry."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me feel better."


	13. J is for Jejune

Some people thought Lavender back at Hogwarts was a bit jejune – the attack was the best thing to steady her, pity that it was, they would whisper.

Neville hated to hear it. It was never Gryffs, who knew there was more to Lavender than Divination and "Won-Won." It was always people from other houses, who thought her a flighty bubblehead.

They didn't know the Lavender who had helped him hunt for Trevor endless times and who'd told him, back in sixth year, that his Gran was a bat who didn't know his true worth.

They didn't know what they had missed.


	14. G is for Gravitas

A marriage proposal was supposed to have some sort of gravitas. Neville always imagined he'd go down on one knee and it'd be like those novels his Gran read.

Instead, Lavender had been complaining about the problems with her flat. He'd responded that they could get married, so she wouldn't have to find another.

And then she said okay.

He'd cursed and gone over to his sock drawer to dig out the ring he'd bought – he'd been planning to wait until her birthday, but he'd buggered it all up.

Lavender just laughed at him and told him it was perfect.


	15. A is for Acumen

Those who knew Neville back at Hogwarts would not have thought him a shrewd businessman. Lavender loved to watch him negotiate firecalls and manipulate terms, leaving the greenhouses baffled at the end, wondering how they had been duped by Neville Longbottom, of all people.

It made Lavender proud.

He never banked on his fame, and he never displayed the impatience and temper she knew he _did_ possess, deep down. He didn't bat an eye when they tried to cheat him out of deliveries. He was honest, but careful.

If they wanted a pushover, they should have gone to a Hufflepuff.


	16. M is for Modicum

"You have _never_ had a modicum of common sense, Lavender. What were you thinking, running off to marry someone you hardly know?"

Lavender sighed. "Mum-"

"And one of _those_ wizards. You couldn't choose someone who had a little more class? Someone who had remained neutral in the war?"

"Mum, Neville is _right here_," she hissed.

"You aren't pregnant, are you?"

"I really don't think that's any of your business," Neville said, rising and tugging Lavender by the arm.

"The only person in this room who needs a little more class is you," he threw over his shoulder as they left.


	17. O is for Obtuse

When Neville went to pour her wine at dinner, Lavender shook her head. "Actually, I can't," she said slowly.

"You aren't getting up early. It's only one glass," Neville replied.

"No, I mean I _can't_," Lavender explained, patting her stomach lightly. She grinned. "I'm pregnant."

"Wait – what?" It took Neville a moment. He set the wine bottle down with a thunk. "Really?"

"I took the test this morning. I wanted to do something silly to surprise you, but," she said with a laugh.

"That's great," Neville replied, grinning. "I'm going to be a dad."

"Yeah," Lavender said softly, still smiling.


	18. Z is for Zeitgeist

Neville sat with half of Hogwarts, kicked out of the packed nursery. It seemed everyone had decided to celebrate with excess copulation.

"I'm not allowed to come back until I have names. Falcon isn't bad, yeah?"

"As in, the _Falmouth Falcons_?" Ernie Macmillan looked horrified.

"Do you live under a rock? Oliver's their Keeper." Ron scowled. "Hermione insisted on Hugo, but I _know_ better than to argue with a pregnant woman."

"Only from experience," Neville ribbed. "Lavender was set on Sprout's name, too."

"_Sprout_?" Ernie gasped.

"Relax, it's Charlotte. What'd you name yours?"

"Gertrude."

Neville looked at Ron's face and laughed.


	19. D is for Dystopia

"Sprout, _what_ are you doing?" Neville asked. His three year old daughter was surrounded by headless dolls, tumbled blocks, and what appeared to be half a dollhouse. Based on the char around the edges of the walls, Neville could guess what had happened to the rest.

Charlotte grinned up at him and waved the wand in her hand around excitedly. She had a doll in her other hand, and its head began to swell. It exploded and bits of rubber doll parts flew across the room.

Clearly, she had Lavender's wand, instead of her toy wand.

"Boom!" she exclaimed happily.


	20. N is for Nefarious

"Neville, where are we going?"

"I can't give away my nefarious plan, now can I?"

"Ooh, now that's a big word."

"Quiet, wench. I'll make you walk the plank."

"Nev, we're in a rowboat."

"What, you don't like pirates? You said you wanted to spice things up."

"No, not with pirates. I love you, but no pirates."

"Ah."

"So where are we going?"

"If I _told_ you, then it wouldn't be a very good birthday surprise, now _would_ it?"

"I suppose you're right."

"I have to be occasionally. Yarr."

"Still not right about the pirates, Nev."

"Really?"

"Really. Sorry, love."


	21. X is for Xenophobia

Lavender hated the xenophobic atmosphere of Ministry parties. After a few short years of celebration, things had returned to the musty, hateful routine of before. She knew some of her mates from were still trying to find viable jobs and denied with flimsy excuses.

She was crammed into a booth at the Hog's Head, feeling as if it was fifth year all over again. She was next to Ginny, while Neville stood next to Harry. It was the one time she'd ever see him swagger over the Battle for Hogwarts. They needed to win people over.

They were plotting rebellion.


	22. Q is for Quaff

"So, I really hope this isn't catching," Ginny remarked, gesturing vaguely in Lavender's direction.

Lavender attempted to laugh and swallow the large gulp of ginger ale she had taken moments before – and promptly choked. She was just starting to show. Luna, on her left, resembled a dirigible and Hermione had the perpetually queasy look of someone still experiencing the joy of morning sickness.

"Harry practically had stars in his eyes when he held Mira last year. You're a Weasley. Trelawney's wasn't that far off with the twelve kids prediction."

Lavender smiled smugly at Ginny's horrified scowl and took another drink.


	23. V is for Votary

Lavender let out a short, strangled scream when she saw the dark mark hanging in the sky. "Neville, you need to see this," she said, frantic. She groped for the edge of Charlotte's crib, terrified to take her eyes off the sky.

He came running in, muttering something about the baby before stopping short at the window. "Lav, get Charlotte together," he said after a moment, voice firm.

Lavender nodded, hands trembling as she magicked a few items into a bag. "I thought – why are they, _how _are they back?" she whispered harshly.

Neville shook his head. "I don't know."


	24. S is for Schadenfreude

Lavender gripped Neville's hand tightly, holding her breath as she awaited the verdict. The trial had been constantly delayed with one petty excuse after another.

"Given the numerous charges, we, the Wizengamot, find that the crimes you have committed, coupled with your lack of true remorse, give us no other recourse. Your use of a blood quill against mere children is especially heinous. Therefore, we sentence you, Delores Umbridge, to life in Azkaban."

Lavender let out the breath she was holding and leaned against Neville's shoulder in relief. Umbridge began to wail and Lavender's face twisted into a grim smile.


	25. R is for Riposte

"Look, Longbottom, why should we listen to you?"

"I know this may be hard to believe, Smith, since you _fled_ the Battle of Hogwarts, but Neville stood up to Voldemort and lopped off the head of his pet snake," Lavender said acidly.

Smith was still standing, arms crossed and scowling.

Lavender put her hands on her hips, leaning back to counterbalance the baby. "I have very little tolerance for idiocy these days, Zacharias Smith. Don't test me," she snapped, fingers curled tight around her wand.

He sat quickly. Lavender smiled brightly. "That's settled then," she said with a satisfied nod.


	26. U is for Utopia

Lavender leaned closer to the wireless, listening as the vote totals were announced. It felt like an age, but finally, louder than anything else, Amos Diggory was named the new Minister for Magic.

The room erupted into cheers and Lavender gave Neville's hand a squeeze. They had worked hard for this, Neville and Harry, and the members of the D.A. They were going to change things. She wasn't going to sit idly by and let the bigots win. Things weren't perfect with the Ministry, or even with wizarding society as a whole – not yet, anyway. But it was a start.


End file.
